JP2009257614A - Air conditioning system - Google Patents

Abstract

【Task】
Even if an abnormality occurs in any of the actuators such as an expansion valve connected to the compressor, the fan, or the heat exchanger, the operation is continued while avoiding a significant decrease in capacity.
[Solution]
The air conditioning system is an outdoor unit equipped with a plurality of compressors C1 to C3, a plurality of fans D1 to D3, heat exchangers E1 to E3, expansion valves e21 to e23, and a plurality of heat exchange units including thermistors e11 to e13. Is used. Abnormalities of the plurality of compressors, the plurality of fans, and the plurality of heat exchange units are individually detected, the compressor, the fan, or the heat exchange unit in which the abnormality is detected are stopped, and the remaining normal compressors, fans, and Continue operation by operating the heat exchanger. When an abnormality is detected in a part of the compressor, the remaining compressor, and the capacity of the fan and the heat exchange unit are increased as necessary, and control is performed to compensate for the decrease in the capacity of the stopped compressor.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to an air conditioning system using an outdoor unit equipped with a plurality of compressors, a plurality of fans, and a plurality of heat exchangers.

  When an abnormality occurs in an actuator such as a compressor or fan in an outdoor unit that constitutes the air conditioning system, the abnormality is detected by the abnormality detection means, and the outdoor unit issues an alarm to operate the air conditioning system. Stop. Thereafter, in order to perform the operation satisfying the rated capacity again, the service person must repair or replace the actuator in which the abnormality has occurred. However, it takes some time for the service person to receive the report of the occurrence of the abnormality and to procure replacement parts, visit the site, and complete the repair. By the time the repair is complete, users of the air conditioning system cannot perform air conditioning.

  On the other hand, as described in Patent Document 1, in a case having a plurality of outdoor units, a backup operation is performed in which air conditioning operation is performed except for the outdoor unit in which an abnormality is detected, and the air is urgently provided that the rated capacity cannot be satisfied. It describes that harmonious operation is performed.

JP 2007-127304 A

  In the conventional air conditioning system, when an abnormality occurs, a service person who has received a report on the occurrence of the abnormality goes to the place where the air conditioning system is installed and disconnects the connector of the actuator where the abnormality has occurred. By setting the individual actuators to be disconnected from the dip switch on the board, the abnormal actuators are recognized not to be operated and temporarily restarted. In such a case, there was a problem that no air-conditioning operation could be performed until the serviceman arrived locally.

  Moreover, the thing of patent document 1 became abnormal in control software by performing predetermined operation from a remote control switch in the module type outdoor unit which connects several outdoor units in the same refrigerant | coolant system | strain. The outdoor unit itself is recognized not to be operated, and a serviceman who has received a notification of the occurrence of a failure prompts the customer to operate the remote control switch and operates as soon as possible until the arrival of the serviceman. . However, when the failed outdoor unit is disconnected by this emergency operation, the number of outdoor units to be operated is reduced, and a significant reduction in capacity is inevitable. In particular, in a module type outdoor unit that configures a refrigeration cycle by connecting a plurality of small-capacity outdoor units composed of a single compressor, fan, and heat exchanger, the outdoor unit itself needs to be disconnected from the control. There was an abnormality only in the compressor in one module (outdoor unit), and even if the fan and heat exchanger were normal, they could not be used.

  The present invention provides an air conditioning system capable of continuing operation while avoiding a significant decrease in performance even when an abnormality occurs in any actuator such as an expansion valve connected to a compressor, a fan, or a heat exchanger. It is in.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an air conditioning system using an outdoor unit including a plurality of compressors, a plurality of fans, and a plurality of heat exchangers including a heat exchanger, an expansion valve, and a thermistor. The abnormality of the plurality of compressors, the plurality of fans, and the plurality of heat exchange units are individually detected, the compressor, the fan, or the heat exchange unit in which the abnormality is detected is stopped, and the remaining normal compressors and fans are detected. And the operation is continued by operating the heat exchange section.

  Here, when an abnormality is detected, all compressors, fans, and heat exchange units are stopped, and an emergency operation is performed from a remote control switch connected to the indoor unit. Alternatively, the operation may be continued by operating the remaining normal compressors, fans, and heat exchange units without driving the heat exchange units.

  In addition, when an abnormality is detected in a part of the plurality of compressors and the compressor is stopped, the operation of at least one of the remaining normal compressors, fans, and heat exchange units is stopped. It is good to control so that a capability may be increased in the direction which compensates for the capability fall of a compressor, and to suppress the fall of an air conditioning capability.

  Furthermore, when an abnormality is detected in a part of the plurality of compressors and the compressor is stopped, a control is made to increase the capacity of the remaining compressors to compensate for the reduced capacity of the stopped compressors. In the case where it is not possible to compensate for the reduced capacity of the stopped compressor only by increasing the capacity of the remaining compressor, at least one of the fan and the heat exchanging section is connected to the capacity of the stopped compressor. It is good to control so as to increase the capacity in a direction to compensate for the decrease.

  Here, when an abnormality is detected in a part of the plurality of compressors during the heating operation and the compressors are stopped, the number of rotations of the fan is also increased to absorb more heat from the outdoors. It is good to control so that the capability fall by the stopped compressor may be compensated.

  According to the present invention, the abnormality of each of the plurality of compressors, the plurality of fans, and the plurality of expansion valves is individually detected, the compressor, the fan, or the expansion valve in which the abnormality is detected is stopped, and the remaining normal compressors are detected. Since the operation is continued by operating the fan and the expansion valve, when performing the emergency operation, the operation is performed by excluding only the actuator (compressor, fan or expansion valve) in which the abnormality has occurred. Even if an abnormality occurs in any actuator such as an expansion valve connected to a compressor, a fan, or a heat exchanger, it is possible to obtain an air conditioning system that can continue operation while avoiding a significant decrease in capacity. is there.

  In the present invention, the outdoor unit is equipped with a plurality of compressors, a plurality of fans, and a plurality of heat exchange units, and can be operated by disconnecting only the actuator in which an abnormality has occurred. In an outdoor unit equipped with multiple actuators, when an abnormality occurs in the outdoor unit, if the actuator in which the abnormality occurred can be identified (if the factor that hinders operation, such as an abnormal temperature in the nth compressor, is obvious) By operating with only the generated actuator excluded from the operation control, emergency operation is possible, and during heating operation, etc., heat exchange by evaporation is performed using a heat exchanger that is a normal fan and evaporator. By further promoting it, it is possible to minimize a decrease in air conditioning capability.

  FIG. 1 is a system diagram showing a specific embodiment of the present invention.

  The air conditioning system according to the present invention includes a plurality of actuators (compressors C1 to C3, fans D1 to D3, heat exchangers E1 to E3, and expansion valves e21 to e23 connected thereto) in a casing of one outdoor unit A. And a heat exchanging unit including thermistors e11 to e13), and each control unit in the outdoor unit control device B1 detects an abnormal portion of the actuator group constituting the refrigeration cycle by a simple input operation from the indoor unit remote controller. Recognize only the operation and exclude the abnormal actuator.

  In addition, the deficiency in operating capacity caused by excluding abnormal actuators in the above control can be compensated by changing the operation control of other normal actuator groups in the same refrigeration cycle during heating operation. Control is provided in the outdoor unit controller B1.

  Hereinafter, specific embodiments of the air conditioner of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  1 is a system diagram showing the overall configuration of an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining the control flow of an abnormality detection control unit shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a control flow of a compressor control unit shown in FIG. It is a flowchart explaining these.

  In the air conditioner, when the operation of each indoor unit F1 to F4 is operated from each remote control switch f1 to f4, the operation request is notified from each indoor unit to the control device B1 of the outdoor unit A. In the outdoor unit control device B1, the indoor transmission control unit 1 receives a signal from the indoor unit, and when this operation signal is received, the actuator control unit 2 includes a compressor control unit 2, a fan control unit 3, and an expansion valve control unit 4. Based on data such as the difference between the set temperature and the actual temperature, the actuator control units calculate the number of compressors C1 to C3, fans D1 to D3, and expansion valves e21 to e23, and their control amounts. The operation of each actuator (compressor, fan, heat exchange unit, etc.) is controlled via the input / output control unit 5. Reference numeral 6 denotes an abnormality detection control unit that detects abnormality of the compressor, the heat exchange unit, the fan, and the like.

  In FIG. 1, B2 is a fan control device for controlling the fans D1 to D3, E1 to E3 are heat exchangers, e11 to e13 are provided in the heat exchangers, and detect the temperatures of the heat exchangers. Thermistors, c1 to c3 are provided in the compressors C1 to C3, and thermistors for detecting the temperature of the compressors, X is a discharge pressure sensor provided on the discharge side of the compressors C1 to C3, and Y is the compressor C1. A suction pressure sensor Z on the suction side of C3 is a four-way valve. The heat exchanger, the thermistor for detecting the temperature, and the expansion valve connected to the heat exchanger are collectively referred to as a heat exchanging portion in this embodiment.

  A control flow in the abnormality detection control unit 6 shown in FIG. 1 will be described with reference to FIG.

  During operation of the air conditioner, for example, when the temperature of the compressor C3 rises excessively, the input / output control unit in the outdoor unit control device B1 reads the input of the temperature thermistor c3 attached to the compressor C3, and performs abnormality detection control. The unit 6 determines that the compressor C3 has entered an abnormal state, and the alarm code 1n (these codes are defined for each actuator and abnormality content. For example, if it is 13, the temperature rise abnormality alarm of the compressor C3 is detected. In this case, a hardware failure of the compressor C3 or a disconnection of the temperature thermistor c3 is considered), and the air conditioning operation of the outdoor unit and the indoor unit is stopped. The alarm code notified from the indoor transmission control unit 1 to the indoor units F1 to F4 is displayed on the remote control switches f1 to f4, so that the user can know that the abnormal stop has occurred. Here, the user contacts the service person, but when the air conditioning operation is to be resumed as soon as possible, an input operation for performing the emergency operation is performed from the remote control switch. As a result, an emergency operation start request is transmitted from the indoor unit to the outdoor unit, and the signal is transmitted to the abnormality detection control unit 6 via the indoor transmission control unit 1, and the abnormal actuator is detected from the alarm code that has been issued. It is determined whether or not the driving obstruction factor can be eliminated by excluding it. If it can be eliminated, the emergency operation request is accepted, and the alarm code being issued is erased and control is performed so as to resume the operation.

  In this example, since the alarm code is 1n (for example, 13), if the compressor C3 is excluded from the operation target, it can be determined that there is no other factor that hinders the operation. Therefore, the compressor control unit is notified that the compressor C3 is abnormal, and the compressor control unit 2 receiving the notification recognizes that the compressor C3 is not subject to operation control, and when the operation is resumed, the compressor C3 is informed to the compressor C3. An instruction to exclude the compressor C3 is issued so that the compressor C3 is not operated even if all the operation requests are generated. Thereby, it becomes possible to perform re-operation (emergency operation) by excluding only the compressor C3 from the operation target.

  Since the exclusion operation of the compressor C3 does not affect the number of operation control targets of the remaining normal compressors C1, C2, fans D1 to D3 and the heat exchange unit, among the normal compressors, fans, and heat exchange units The operation of at least one of these is controlled so as to increase the capacity in a direction to compensate for the decreased capacity of the stopped compressor so as to suppress the decrease in the air conditioning capacity.

  For example, in the case where an abnormality is detected in a part of a plurality of compressors and the compressor is stopped, control is performed to increase the capacity of the remaining compressors to compensate for the reduced capacity of the stopped compressors In the case where it is not possible to compensate for the reduced capacity of the stopped compressor only by increasing the capacity of the remaining compressor, at least one of the fan and the heat exchanging section is connected to the capacity of the stopped compressor. Control to increase the ability to compensate for the decline.

  During cooling operation, the heat exchange unit has the same capacity as in the normal state, and by effectively using it, it is possible to compensate for the lack of compressor capacity, and one of the module type outdoor units Compared to the case where the entire system is excluded, it is possible to minimize a decrease in the capacity of the entire air conditioning system.

  The recognition and exclusion of actuator abnormalities are the same for other actuators. For example, if the input from the fan control device B2 is read by the input / output control unit and the abnormality detection control unit determines that an abnormality has occurred in the fan Dn, the alarm code 2n is issued and the air conditioning operation is stopped. . Thereafter, when an emergency operation start request is received, the fan control unit is notified that the fan Dn is abnormal, and the fan control unit recognizes and controls the fan Dn as not being subject to operation control during re-operation. .

  Similarly, if the input from the temperature thermistor e1n attached to the heat exchanger En is read by the input / output control unit 5 and the abnormality detection control unit 6 determines that an abnormality has occurred in the heat exchanger En, an alarm code 3n is issued and the air conditioning operation is stopped. After that, when an emergency operation start request is received, the expansion valve control unit 4 is notified that the heat exchanger En is abnormal, and the expansion valve control unit 4 recognizes an instruction to exclude the heat exchanger En during re-operation. The heat exchanger is excluded from operation control targets. That is, control is performed so that the expansion valve e2n is closed and the heat exchanging portion is not used.

  If an alarm code (for example, 4x) other than the alarm codes 1n to 3n has been issued because it is not an abnormality for each actuator or a complex abnormality is detected, an emergency operation start request is received. However, the alarm code is not erased and is kept, so it cannot be resumed.

  FIG. 3 is a control flowchart of the compressor controller 2 shown in FIG.

  In the above-described re-operation (emergency operation), if the compressor operation request load is equivalent to two compressors, it can be satisfied by operation using normal compressors C1 and C2, and air conditioning Although the capacity does not decrease, if the required operating load is equivalent to 3 compressors, it is not possible to meet the demand because the refrigerant circulation amount that can be satisfied with the operation of 2 compressors cannot be satisfied, resulting in a decrease in capacity. It becomes. Here, when it is during the heating operation, the fan Dn having no abnormality is controlled with the correction amount added to the original required control amount to suppress the decrease in capacity. Specifically, in addition to normal control, the compressor intake pressure value (with an upper limit) is derived from the outside temperature according to the refrigerant physical properties as a target, and the total air volume generated by the fan is adjusted so that the actual compressor intake pressure value approaches this. Increase from the normal control stepwise (represented by the concept of a fan step here), improve the performance of the heat exchanger as an evaporator, increase the heat exchange amount and raise the evaporation temperature to further promote heat exchange This compensates for the decline in capacity due to insufficient refrigerant circulation.

  As described above, in the present invention, when an abnormality occurs in the compressor C3, only the compressor C3 is used, and when an abnormality occurs in the fan D2, only the fan D2 is used as a heat exchanger such as the heat exchanger E1. When an abnormality occurs, only the heat exchange unit including the heat exchanger E1 can be excluded, and an air conditioner configured to use a plurality of module-type outdoor units and perform an exclusion operation in units of abnormal outdoor units. Compared with the system, it is possible to suppress a decrease in capacity during emergency operation. In particular, during emergency operation after a compressor abnormality occurs during cooling operation, even if the compressor is excluded from the refrigeration cycle, there is no exclusion operation of the number of fans and heat exchangers. The performance of the heat exchanger as a condenser can be maintained, and even if the outdoor temperature rises and the condensation temperature rises, or the capacity of the indoor unit to be operated increases, the reduction in heat exchange can be suppressed, and the operating load is reduced. Capability decline accompanying increase can be suppressed.

  In addition, when an abnormality occurs in any of the compressors, the physical or control surplus force of a normal actuator other than the compressor is used to perform control by adding a correction amount to normal control, A decrease in air conditioning capability can be further suppressed. In particular, during emergency operation after compressor failure occurs during heating operation, the amount of circulating refrigerant decreases, but by increasing the fan air volume from that during normal control, the performance of the heat exchanger as an evaporator is improved. As a result, the amount of heat exchange can be increased, the compressor suction pressure can be increased, and the reduction in capacity can be suppressed.

  As described above, according to the present invention, during emergency operation after an abnormality has occurred in each actuator in the outdoor unit, it is possible to prevent a significant decrease in air conditioning capability during both cooling operation and heating operation. This can improve the reliability and convenience of the outdoor unit.

The system diagram which shows the whole structure of one Example of this invention. The flowchart explaining the control flow of the abnormality detection control part shown in FIG. The flowchart explaining the control flow of the compressor control part shown in FIG.

Explanation of symbols

A outdoor unit B1 outdoor unit control device B2 fan control devices C1 to C3 compressors c1 to c3, 11 to e13 thermistors D1 to D3 fans E1 to E3 heat exchangers e21 to e23 expansion valves F1 to F4 indoor units f1 to f4 remote control switch X Discharge pressure sensor Y Suction pressure sensor Z Four-way valve

Claims (5)

In an air conditioning system using an outdoor unit equipped with a plurality of compressors, a plurality of fans, and a plurality of heat exchangers including a heat exchanger, an expansion valve, and a thermistor,
Abnormalities of the plurality of compressors, the plurality of fans, and the plurality of heat exchange units are individually detected, the compressor, the fan, or the heat exchange unit in which the abnormality is detected are stopped, and the remaining normal compressors, fans, and An air conditioning system characterized in that the heat exchange unit is operated to continue the operation.   2. The compressor in which an abnormality is detected by stopping all the compressors, fans, and the heat exchanging unit when an abnormality is detected, and performing an emergency operation from a remote control switch connected to the indoor unit. The air conditioning system is characterized in that the operation is continued by operating the remaining normal compressor, fan, and heat exchanger without driving the fan or the heat exchanger.   In claim 1, when an abnormality is detected in some of the plurality of compressors and the compressor is stopped, the operation of at least one of the remaining normal compressors, fans, and heat exchange units is performed as described above. An air conditioning system characterized in that a decrease in air conditioning capability is suppressed by controlling to increase the capability in a direction to compensate for a decrease in the capability of the stopped compressor.   In Claim 3, when abnormality is detected in some of a plurality of compressors and the compressors are stopped, the capacity of the remaining compressors is controlled to increase, and the capacity of the stopped compressors is reduced. If the capacity is increased in the direction of compensating for the remaining capacity, and the capacity reduction of the stopped compressor cannot be compensated only by increasing the capacity of the remaining compressor, at least one of the fan and the heat exchanging section is connected to the stopped compression. An air conditioning system that is controlled to increase its capacity in a direction that compensates for a decrease in capacity of the aircraft.   In claim 4, when an abnormality is detected in a part of the plurality of compressors during the heating operation and the compressors are stopped, the number of rotations of the fan is also increased to absorb more heat from the outdoors. The air conditioning system is characterized in that control is performed so as to compensate for a reduction in capacity due to the compressor stopped.

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